Ivy Opener Will Be on Friday Night

Columbia's Ivy League opener vs. Princeton will be on national TV on ESPNU on Friday night September 29 at 7:00pm ET. 

The Lions last played under the lights at Princeton in 2015, and lost in a super close matchup in a monsoon at Princeton Stadium. 

Official Release Posted

The athletic department website now has the official news release on the incoming freshmen. 

Before the week is out, I will add this info to my official LionFeeders database that documents every known Columbia Football player and where he went to HS. 

Two New Names, No Subtractions

In addition to all the names of the incoming players that I had on my unofficial list, I'm seeing two new names on the roster listed as First Years:

First is 6-5, 230 pound DE J.P. Okeke from Whitewater HS in Fayetteville, Georgia. It looks like Okeke just started playing football his senior year of high school. That makes him one of those potential massive upside guys who could available to the Ivies simply because he wasn't playing football long enough in HS. Okeke will be the first Whitewater grad to come to Columbia. 

Second is 6-0, 185 pound LB George Thanopoulos from Poly Prep HS in Brooklyn, NY. Thanopoulos should not be confused with a player of the same name who was a star pitcher for the baseball team about eight years ago. Thanopoulos will be the 7th Poly Prep grad to come to Columbia, but the first since Ari Pearlman '93. 

 

 

BREAKING: Newcomer Names Now Appearing on the Football Roster

Here's the link. 

I'll have more of an update as soon as I can go through the info:

The View from (stil) Very Far Away

We're still 113 days from kickoff, and we're also still waiting for the official news release detailing who is in our incoming 2023 freshman football class. 

But it's hard to keep under wraps a thought I've been having about this upcoming season:

The competition will be TOUGH.

As I look at the seven other Ivy teams, I'm hard pressed to find one that doesn't seem like it will be better this fall than it was in 2022... or at least as good. 

Brown is returning some talented QB's and has another year of Head Coach James Perry's overall magic in the system. 

Cornell will have a 3-year starter at QB in Jameson Wong, who improved last year and should be even better.

Dartmouth faces the challenge of not having Buddy Teevens at the helm via terrible circumstances, but that could also be a source of great inspiration. Meanwhile, the Big Green had a tough year last year with roster issues that will be improved this year and this program hasn't had two bad years in a row in forever. 

Harvard had a down year by their standards last season, but still returns an amazing defensive line and all these great recruits the program always gets. Will they go yet ANOTHER year without an All Ivy caliber QB? The odds are getting thinner for that to continue. 

Penn has a good and improving QB and some of its defensive stars returning. 

Princeton has a returning starting QB for the first time in years and always just reloads year after year.

Yale returns its Player of the Year QB and 2022 Ivy Rookie of the Year RB. 

The out of conference schedule will be tougher too. 

Lafayette is a stronger opponent than Columbia's recent OOC fare, and that game will be at Lafayette. 

Georgetown almost always is a tough game for the Lions, last year notwithstanding. 

Finally, I'm hearing reports that Marist will be much improved as well. 

I think Columbia can be a better team too, but that huge challenge of rebuilding the offensive line will be the baseline for the entire season. So much depends on that. 

Stay tuned...